Starbucks Celebrates Election Day By Hauling Out Holiday
Menu And Cups

Tuesday was Election day, so in the universe that Starbucks inhabits, that means it’s time to bring out the full holiday menu and red-and-green cups. While you’ll never catch me whining about the availability of peppermint mochas, this is an important bit of consumer information which helps prove mathematically that Christmas Creep may be coming to an end. Maybe.

Why? Our departed colleague J. Alex Chasick hypothesized that the date Starbucks brings out the red cups is a national index of Christmas Creep. In 2009, the holiday cups appeared on November 3rd. In 2007, they appeared on November 8th. If the trend continues, the holiday cups will debut only a few hours earlier. Say, 6 PM on November 1st.

Not that many people are all that upset. The blog Eater reports that people seem to be reacting with a strange joy, and quoted a Twitter user who claimed to be “literally having an anxiety attack” while standing in line at Starbucks. Really? Maybe you need a decaf egg nog latte, sweetie.

Indeed. I almost had to swim to work today, but the knowledge that Starbucks is once again dishing up peppermint mochas may be enough to cause me to swing by the drive-through Starbucks out here in BFE PW county on the way home.

Absolutely adorable kitteh, BTW. We had a stray very similar in appearance adopt us two years ago…

Sort of — last year one the baristas told me that they can make one if you ask, until the season’s stock is depleted, but that they don’t get new shipments of the peppermint syrup until this time of year.

Their Peppermint Hot Chocolate is alright, but I’m waiting for the Peppermint Hot Chocolate (with free refills!) at Bob Evans to come back. It is soooo tasty. Much better than what you get at Starbucks, cheaper too.

christmas creep sounds like the name of santa’s arch-nemesis, or an 80’s pro wrestler.
on a side note while i don’t care for starbucks coffee based drinks, the frappucino (w/o espresso), apple cider, and hot chocolate FTW

After having worked in mall retail for years, my wife was surprised this past weekend when we were at the mall and only 2 or 3 of the stores had Christmas products/decorations out. I suspect that since Halloween was on a Sunday, the beginning of this week was a good place for stores to make the changeover. I know the Target by us is fully in holiday mode.

Why? Our departed colleague J. Alex Chasick hypothesized that the date Starbucks brings out the red cups is a national index of Christmas Creep. In 2009, the holiday cups appeared on November 3rd. In 2007, they appeared on November 8th. If the trend continues, the holiday cups will debut only a few hours earlier. Say, 6 PM on November 1st. Election Day 2007 = November 6
Election Day 2008 = November 4
Election Day 2009 = November 3
Election Day 2010 = November 2
Election Day 2011 = November 8

I went to Target Election Day and it had a ton of Christmas stuff out. It wasn’t completely Christmas’d out yet, but about half the endcaps had Christmas items. That’s just the way stores work now. Immediately after Halloween they get the Christmas stuff out.

Our closest Target had a full-on Christmas display about a week before Halloween. Trees, lights, cards, decorations; the whole nine yards. It was actually rather pathetic, as what remained of the nearby Halloween section was full of people while the substantially larger Christmas section had only one lone employee stocking bins.

Eh, this stuff doesn’t bother me anymore. It bothered me as a kid, because I would get all excited for Christmas, then realise it was a month and a half away, so it made the wait feel longer.

Its the music I’m not fond ot so early. Which is why I’m happy the Phillies didn’t win the World Series. I still haven’t forgiven Charlie Manuel for saying “looks like Christmas came early this year” when they won in 2008. First off, its terribly cliche, secondly, one of the local stations decided that meant they would start their non-stop christmas music right away.

I’m not really sure if it’s “Christmas Creep.” Even back in the early 80s I remember my family starting to put out Christmas stuff right after Halloween, and the stores started decorating as well. They were gearing up for the Thanksgiving weekend. I don’t see any problem with Starbucks doing this and I’m happy that they wait until after Halloween… unlike other stores mentioned here that had Christmas stuff up in late August.

What I have noticed about the Starbucks stuff now is that more things are exempt from the freebies associated with the “Gold Card.” You’re supposed to get free syrups but the holiday ones are considered promotional and are exempt. Also, the baristas can’t seem to figure out how to ring up drinks. I frequently have my favorite holiday drink rung up incorrectly. It’s a gingerbread white mocha. Plain old white mocha with a few pumps of the gingerbread syrup. I either get the wrong drink (gingerbread latte) or there is total confusion about how to make it, which surprises me. Oh well. Now that the price has gone up, I cut WAY back.